Imagine a near-distant future where we’re all gathering together freely once more. ?
You and I are attending the year’s biggest content marketing conference.
Before we head to the event center for talks, presentations, and meet-and-greets, we agree to meet up at that quaint little coffee shop on the corner near our hotels.
We sit at a table by a window looking out onto a sunny city street. Bright-eyed, early shoppers pass laden with bags, and businesspeople in suits and blazers hurry by on their way to their first morning meetings.
We sip our coffees and chat idly about the upcoming events of the day. We even indulge in a little gossip.
After my last sip of espresso, I ask, “So, how is your company’s blog doing?”
You reply with a pained sigh, and lifelessly mutter:
“It could be doing so much better.”
I lean in and give you my full attention while you lay out a laundry list of problems:
You can’t keep up with the consistent blogging schedule you need to get anywhere.
You’re hyper-focused on quantity and obsessed with pushing out content just to get it out there. Ergo, much of your content is just okay, while most of it is downright rushed and bad.
You haven’t even thought about SEO.
Writing isn’t your forte, nor is it the specialty of anyone else on your team, so you struggle mightily when it comes time to create content.
Your main competitor, on the other hand, has an incredible blog and is jumping ahead of you by leaps and bounds with the audience they’re drawing in.
And the list goes on.
You sit back in your chair, rubbing your temples. Just thinking about the situation gives you a headache.
You know what I’m going to say.
I say it anyway.
“You need a content writer.”
You Need a Content Writer: 5 Reasons to Invest in Your Content
Even though this is an imaginary situation, the point still stands. If you’re like most small brands, some or all of this is ringing true.
In a survey on the state of content writing in 2020, Mantis Research and Typeset found most small business owners, marketers, and communications professionals experience a disconnect between knowing what successful writing looks like and actually achieving it.
76% say they know what successful writing looks like, but only 45% think their content is extremely/very effective.
Nearly half of all business communicators struggle to understand what their audience wants to read.
Those with only moderate success with content writing struggle with most aspects of the process: writing and publishing consistently, maintaining quality over time, writing headlines, writing for SEO, writing concisely, getting the words to flow, and meeting deadlines.
[bctt tweet=”Most small business owners & marketers experience a disconnect between knowing what successful writing looks like and actually achieving it. How do you close the gap? ➡⬅ Get yourself a content writer ?” username=”ExpWriters”]
As you can see, you’re not alone in your struggles.
But there IS a solution.
You need a content writer, and I’m here to tell you why. (Imagine me giving you this advice over that same cup of coffee from our hypothetical friendly chat. ☕)
1. You Don’t Have Time
I talk to business owners and even marketing specialists every day who respond to my question about their web content the same way you did.
Sometimes, I just want to reach through the phone, shake them, and ask “Why do you think you’re not doing better?! It’s because you don’t have time!”
I want to, but I don’t. At any rate, the reason you can’t keep up with a busy writing schedule is simple: You don’t have time. You’re too busy actually running your business.
Thankfully, the solution is pretty simple, too. Hire a content writer.
Not only do we have the time to develop your content for you (because this is our job and what we spend our days doing), but we do this all the time, so we can make it happen more quickly than you can.
You don’t have the workflow down. We do.
2. Content Writing Is More Than Writing
When you hire a content writer, you’re not getting someone who will write generic content that may or may not apply to your business. You’re hiring a team member who will take an interest in your business and will be eager to learn how you work, who your audience is, and where your big successes and failures are now.
Once we have all the information we need, we’re going to be doing more than writing – we’re going to be communicating with your audience on a level you’d never have time to maintain.
Not only that, but content writers are experienced with writing for SEO — including keyword and topic research — as well as editing, writing for social media and other content formats, and more.
Content writing means we have to be good at a little of everything – and that’s good for you.
A common mistake of CEOs and business owners who also do their own marketing and advertising?
They’re just too close to their own products. They can’t see the forest for the trees, so to speak.
Your content writer, on the other hand, is coming to the table with no biases and a fresh perspective. They’ll look at your product with zero prior knowledge of its existence, in many cases.
A content writer who’s worth his or her salt will take an interest in your business and will work tirelessly to understand it while maintaining their clear-eyed objectivity. It’s this objective stance that helps them write creative and innovative content that doesn’t rehash the same old tired clichés plaguing your industry.
That’s our job. We take your product, look at it in a fresh new way, and sell it to new customers with a novel perspective on what makes it so great. We take your tired content topics and breathe new life into them, illuminating and showcasing your brand voice in the process.
If your sales language and content writing are bogged down in jargon and marketing-speak that don’t really mean anything, then you most definitely need the help of a content writer.
4. Fresh Content, Consistently, Means Better Results
It should go without saying at this point, but I’m saying it anyway. (Do you see a theme emerging, here?)
Search engines love fresh content.
They also love quality content.
To rank well, to stay on Google’s page one, you need both.
75% of SEO experts cite content as the most important factor for an SEO-friendly website.
Keeping your site’s pages filled with ever-changing, fresh, keyword-optimized content that isn’t spammy, that’s written for humans, and is fun and engaging for an internet audience to read, is going to be the best dang thing that ever happened to your website. Period.
Guess what.
The best content writers do that. ALL of it.
Your content writer will have his or her finger on the pulse of your web traffic in a way you never could. They know how to write consistently great content while using SEO techniques – all without sacrificing readability, customer engagement, or accuracy.
I get it. You have overhead, and hiring even one more person will make your budget that much tighter.
No worries. You don’t need a sky-high budget to get stellar content writing.
Even companies on the barest of budgets should be able to afford the services of a freelance content writer for a project or two, and if the content is effective, then your bottom line will start looking up, enabling you to bring that freelancer on board regularly.
[bctt tweet=”❕FACT: You don’t need a big budget to get stellar #contentwriting. Even bootstrapped brands can afford a content writer for a project or two. ➕ with effective content, your bottom line will grow, so you can hire that writer regularly.” username=”ExpWriters”]
Need a Content Writer? We’ve Got Content Writers.
Content writing is an integral piece of the marketing puzzle. Without the right, skilled expert in your corner, content creation and publishing will be much, much harder than they need to be. They’ll take more time, more money, and cause more headaches.
You get it. You need a content writer.
If you’re ready to dive in, we’ve got you. ❤
If you need a content writer, like, yesterday, Express Writers has a literal writer army at your disposal. Check out our Content Shop and find out what we can do for your business.
If writing copy was a super power, the content writer is certainly the superhero of the online realm. They use their creativity and killer communication skills to earn a fruitful living. They’re highly motivational and they can literally convince consumers to buy products… right from their computer screens.
What goes on in their day? What motivates the content writer, and how hard do they work? Check out the infographic we wrote and put together below for the answer!
Feel free to share! Have something you’d add to a “day in the life?” Let us know in the comments!
Infographic: A Day in the Life of a Content Writer: Masters of the Written Online Word
The day in the life of a content writer is dynamic, fast-paced, filled with research, and honing their natural writing talents. Here’s an inside glimpse into their lives!
3 Facts About Content Writers
FACT: 24% of full-time freelancer writers work at least 25 hours per week. Content writers work morning, noon, and night. They have very flexible schedules as long as they meet deadlines.
FACT: A content writer practically lives in their email inbox. 205 billion emails are sent per day, and some days it feels like 203 billion emails hit your inbox. Then you’ll have days where you receive no emails at all.
The Content Writer’s Workload: An Inside Look
What is their workload like?
The most skilled content writers are booked months in advance—and some even have a waiting list.
Content writers can be assigned specific topics by clients, or they’re left to strategize topic ideas on their own. A savvy content writer will use many resources to discover useful and interesting topic ideas. A content calendar helps keep many professional content writers on track. The content calendar includes client names, blog topics, due dates, publishing dates, and more.
When it’s time to write, a content writer can write very high or very low word counts per day. An ad copywriter may only write 100 words for a commercial, while a blogger can write 2,000 words to whip up a blog post.
Productivity tip #1: Content writing assignments should be tackled by order of due date. The highest priority items are worked on first.
Productivity tip #2: If due dates aren’t looming, a content writer may choose to tackle the toughest task first. This will help easier tasks fly by the rest of the day.
Different content writing styles will activate different parts of the writer’s brain.
Did you miss #ContentWritingChat this week? You’re in the right spot, because I’ve put together a recap of some of the best tweets from Tuesday’s chat all about How to Level Up Your Content Writing Career. Ready to learn? Let’s dive in!
#ContentWritingChat March 1 2016 Recap: How to Level Up Your Content Writing Career
This week, our guest host was Tara Clapper. Tara is the Blog Editor over at SEMrush and the Senior Editor at The Geek Initiative. (She’s also a moderator on Julia’s Facebook group: Learn Online Writing.) She joined us to talk about building your career as a content writer. Our chat this week was amazing. We had lots of new participants and a ton of energy going during the chat. It was hard to keep up with all the participation! Some of the fun kudos shared:
At 11am EST, join #ContentWritingChat! w @JuliaEMcCoy and the team from ExpressWriters – the fastest minds and flaming keyboards on Twitter! — Michael Stricker (@RadioMS) March 1, 2016
Wow.. I’m loving the energy, thoughts and conversation today at #ContentWritingChat!! ??
Tara gave some great advice for anyone looking to switch to a freelance career. Don’t rely on just one employer. You never know how things will go and you want to make sure you have other options. As Kathleen said, you should get started NOW. Don’t quit your 9-5 job before you’ve established yourself in your freelancing career.
A1 I waited 1-2 months to ramp up writing gigs + income to replace my min.wage job, then I quit everything to write. #ContentWritingChat — Julia McCoy (@JuliaEMcCoy) March 1, 2016
Julia, our CEO, didn’t quit her minimum wage job for writing cold turkey either. Build up your portfolio and start connecting with contacts first before you make the leap.
A1: Learn how to negotiate. Don’t undervalue your work. Be willing to walk away if not getting fairly compensated. #ContentWritingChat — Laura Powell (@dailysuitcase) March 1, 2016
Laura gave some sound advice on staying firm to your rates, too.
A2: If you <3 side gigs, you don’t mind managing the business end of things, and writing is all you do, it’s destiny. #ContentWritingChat — Tara M. Clapper (@irishtara) March 1, 2016
Q2: you don’t know Content Writing COULD be your career, you know it MUST BE your calling, your obsession! #ContentWritingChat — Michael Stricker (@RadioMS) March 1, 2016
A2. Simple: if you LOVE to write. Passion is #1, skills can be taught. Why I’m in content marketing = love for writing #ContentWritingChat — Julia McCoy (@JuliaEMcCoy) March 1, 2016
If you’re wondering if content writing is the career for you, here’s how to tell: Make sure you’re fine with managing the business side of things. You are going to be responsible for finding clients and landing jobs. It’s all on you! And as Michael said, content writing needs to be your calling. You must have a passion for it in order to succeed!
A3: Content #writers should know: basic #SEO, 2-3 niche topics, how to format and edit in Word using revisions tool. #ContentWritingChat — Tara M. Clapper (@irishtara) March 1, 2016
A3: Necessary skills are self-editing, #SEO and how to engage people through storytelling #contentwritingchat — Ashby Strauch (@ashbystrauch) March 1, 2016
We got some great tips from people in the chat about what skills content writers need to have! As Tara pointed out, you need to know the basics of SEO. Taking the time to optimize your posts for search engines is so important if you want to make sure your content gets seen. (And you do!) Grenae said you also need to know how to research and be able to meet deadlines. And as Ashby said, a good content writer needs to be able to engage his/her audience through storytelling. Storytelling is key to great writing to keep your audience interested and reading until the very end.
A3 First, good writing skills (grammar, nuance, flow). Secondly, online & audience optimization (ie, SEO vs social) #ContentWritingChat — Julia McCoy (@JuliaEMcCoy) March 1, 2016
A3 Writing a good headline is essential! Practice makes perfect. I’ve written 500+ and still learning best phrasing #ContentWritingChat — Julia McCoy (@JuliaEMcCoy) March 1, 2016
Julia points out that great headline creation skills are important here, too.
A4: Keyword stuffing is an outdated ‘skill.’ Most of your clients probably won’t know that and will ask you to do it. #ContentWritingChat — Tara M. Clapper (@irishtara) March 1, 2016
For the most part, everyone in Tuesday’s chat said keyword stuffing is OUT. Content shouldn’t be filled with keywords. They should be worked into the content in a way that sounds natural. Your readers don’t like articles stuffed with keywords and neither does Google.
A5a: Grammarly (especially for non-native English writers), @SEMrush for Keyword, phrase research, Soovle for Amazon KWs #ContentWritingChat — Michael Stricker (@RadioMS) March 1, 2016
We received a ton of recommendations for great tools to use in content writing. If you haven’t already, check out a few of these suggestions: CoSchedule’s headline analyzer, SEMrush, and Grammarly. But as Kristen said, you can’t rule out the good ol’ Thesaurus. It’s always helpful!
A6A: Referrals are the most genuine and easiest way to get quality clients. Go the extra mile and you’ll get referred. #ContentWritingChat — Tara M. Clapper (@irishtara) March 1, 2016
A6. Really get to know who you’re writing for + put extra effort into those relationships #contentwritingchat — Kristen Dunleavy (@KristenWritesIt) March 1, 2016
If you want to establish a good reputation as a content writer, take Tara’s advice: Go the extra mile. Clients will appreciate when you go one step further to create great content and build a relationship with them. Don’t forget to network with others in the community too.
A6. Respect deadlines, stay true to your craft, and participate in chats to network with others in the community. #Contentwritingchat
— Village Print&Media (@village_print) March 1, 2016
A6 Deliver quality content, respectfully communicate with editors, observe deadlines. #ContentWritingChat — Kathleen Garvin (@itskgarvin) March 1, 2016
Kathleen and Village Print&Media said it well, too: be sure you’re observing deadlines, and stay true to quality.
A6: Great work samples, overdelivering ahead of schedule, pleasant personality. #ContentWritingChat — Shayla Price (@shaylaprice) March 1, 2016
Shayla points a great key of client satisfaction: actually being ahead of schedule, as a few others said too.
A7: To get repeat work, sign up with an agency. Send periodic greetings, holiday messages to stay in touch with clients. #ContentWritingChat — Tara M. Clapper (@irishtara) March 1, 2016
To land repeat work, both Tara and our CEO, Julia, agree: sign up with an agency. (Like ours! We’re hiring writers and editors!) An agency can provide you with regular clients so you get more work. Tara shared a great tip about keeping in touch with past clients. Stay top of mind so they’ll come to you when they need more work.
A8: Content writing is increasingly intuitive. Answer qs people ask Google. Also: writing around embedded video content. #ContentWritingChat — Tara M. Clapper (@irishtara) March 1, 2016
A8: The average Google first page result contains 1,890 words – longform content rules #ContentWritingChat — Pat Whalen (@2patwhalen) March 1, 2016
Where is content writing headed in the future? Tara encourages you to answer the questions people ask Google through your content. And Pat reminds us that long-form content wins – Julia confirms that we create it constantly for clients!
We look forward to seeing you at the next #ContentWritingChat! Be sure to join us on Tuesday, March 8th, 2016 at 10 AM CST!
Anyone who has ever studied English or writing knows just how hilarious people think they’re being when they ask “What in the world are you ever going to do with that?”
It’s long been considered a source of fun and frivolity to pick on writers for their delicate sensibilities and their seemingly useless talents and training…until now.
Right now, you and I are living in the era of the copywriter as the online content writer, or SEO copywriter… and it’s arguable that there are few other skills that are in such high demand right now.
That’s right: high demand.
Copywriting is a broad profession that embodies many things and, now more than ever, people need copywriters to make their online businesses go around, to help their pages show up in search results, to execute good SEO, and to master the written word in order to provide value and excitement for readers.
The Evolution of the Copywriter To The Online Content Writer
The role of the copywriter as it is today, with many jobs in online content writing specifically, has metamorphosed hugely since the inception of advertising.
Back in the ‘30s and ‘40s, copywriters were charged with developing ad copy people would love, which typically meant it was full of puns, over-explaining, and outrageous exaggerations (like the 1937 Camel Cigarette ad whose headline was “for digestion’s sake – smoke Camels!”).
In the ‘60s and ‘70s, the job of copywriting began to change when Bill Bernbach, the first man to put copywriters and art directors together on projects, created a new-age copy creation team that was dedicated to producing ads that were more honest, stark, and open. Throughout the ‘80s and the ‘90s, copywriting continued to change: long copy dominated advertising and visuals became more important but in the year 2000, it all began to change.
Suddenly, visual gags were all the rage and body copy all but died altogether. Throughout the next several years, copywriting became a spammy profession that was focused on cramming as many keywords into a piece of content as possible or building sneaky, unethical links. Thanks to the pressures of the market and the overwhelming trend of copy in general, copywriting became an environment in which crappy content was king and black hats were in vogue.
Today, however, copywriting is a high-brow practice that requires extensive knowledge of SEO, marketing, and a wide variety of writing tactics that can help businesses put their best face forward.
The Changing Tides of Copywriting: Google, Value, and Other Factors
The reason for the evolution of online content writing that has taken place over the last decade has to do in large part with Google. Over the years, Google has released a series of updates aimed at targeting so-called “black-hat SEO” practices, such as keyword stuffing, doorway pages, invisible text, or page swapping, and rewarding sites that feature high-quality, original, valuable content.
These changes have made it nearly impossible for crappy sites to scrape by and, as such, the algorithm updates have created a brand new demand for talented, knowledgeable copywriters that know how to produce great site rankings through skill and technique rather than spammy, dark-side practices. As Google’s algorithm updates have only continued to press forward, this need has become more and more pronounced and, nowadays, it’s impossible for a site to rank or survive without a team of talented copywriters and other marketing professionals on staff.
4 Important Things Copywriters Need to Know
Despite its great demand right now, very few people know what copywriters actually do. We’re confused with journalists and, when the profession comes up at a dinner party, are often regarded with raised eyebrows and a deer-in-the-headlights sort of “Ohhhh” from the person who mistakenly asked what it is that we do. Nobody knows what copywriters do and that’s because we operate largely behind the scenes.
Despite this reality, copywriters play a large part in making the digital world go around and there are dozens of things copywriters need to know in order to do their jobs well. Here are just a few:
1. How to Write Electrifying Headlines
What makes you decide to read an article as you scroll through your Facebook feed? If you’re like most social media users, it’s the headline or the featured image or some combination of both. Little did you know that copywriters have a hand in both of those things, but specifically the headline. One of the most important jobs a copywriter has is to create magnetic headlines that draw audiences in and make them want to click on an article. This requires a little bit of a magic, a little bit of technical skill, and a whole lot of technique.
2. How to Use SEO Components in Writing
Copywriters are asked to create great content that wants to go viral and, aside from writing clearly and providing value to readers, there’s only one way to do this: SEO. SEO stands for “search engine optimization” and is the practice by which writers make content easy to read for both people and search engines. SEO entails everything from keyword usage to meta titles and descriptions and is an important part of making sure you can find exactly what you’re looking for online. Additionally, good SEO helps sites get their content out there in front of consumers and makes sure that google users can always find what they’re looking for when they enter a search queries in the search box.
3. How to Provide Value to Readers
People use search engines to ask and answer questions and one of the most important jobs of a copywriter is to ensure that the content that pops up in response to search queries is valuable, useful, and helpful. This means that copywriters must be able to anticipate reader questions and answer them from an empathetic and informative standpoint. They must also be able to cite sources, provide trustworthy research, include visuals for reference, and do everything in their power to ensure that the reader’s questions are answered and that he or she genuinely enjoys the content that presents itself.
4. How to use multi-media content to grab reader interest
Today, content is king but content is also a broad, broad term. Content entails everything, including but not limited to blog posts, articles, eBooks, white papers, social media posts, podcasts, Tweets, videos, images, memes, infographics, and video casts. In order to be effective in today’s content creation climate, copywriters need to know how to use all of these things and use them well. That means that it’s no longer enough for a copywriter to be good with a pen and paper – they also need to be part graphic designer, part marketer, part SEO, part visual artist, part documentary filmmaker and part research analyst in order to pull all these things together into one cohesive package. What’s more, copywriters need to know how to work with dozens of different blogging, content and image creation, and social media platforms in order to distribute content to a wide variety of readers effectively. How’s that for a laundry list of qualifications?
5. How to Write Well!
Last but not least, copywriters need to know how to write well! Nobody wants to slog through textbook-ish jargon online and that sort of junk only drives people away. Similarly, nobody wants to struggle through typo-heavy crap written by someone in a hurry. As businesses get busier and busier with all the aspects of marketing, promotion, and product development that they deal with on a daily basis, copywriters become more and more in demand. Content creation is a serious responsibility and a time-consuming obligation and often, there isn’t anyone on a business team who knows how to (or has the time to) do it well. This is one of the main reasons that copywriters are in such high demand right now – because they write clear, concise content that readers can understand, interact with, and enjoy. Tell that to all those people who made fun of you for being a writer.
Conclusion
Right now, copywriters are the magicians behind a significant portion of the web and, as web-based marketing continues to boom in the coming years, talented copywriters will only continue to become more and more popular. Whether we’re working on articles, eBooks, blogs or white papers, there is a huge amount of opportunity for copywriters right. We work in marketing, tech companies, brick-and-mortar businesses, and e-commerce settings.
Copywriting is hot right now and there is truly no shortage of places to use that wonderful talent of yours – writing!
We’re hiring at Express Writers! Apply as a writer or editor.
Over the past decade, the incontestable power of the Internet has brought millions of business owners from all parts of the globe together in investing their time and money in cutting-edge websites and suitable web content, elaborated according to their needs, specifications and expectations, with the pen of a content writer making their content happen. When it comes to articles that actually draw visitors and serve a higher purpose, most company owners spare no expenses and do everything in their power to identify the best content writer or team of writers available. Here are 5 important things that you should know about talented, active, sociable, Internet-savvy and creative freelancers who have what it takes to guide you towards business success.
Your Ideal Content Writer Candidate Should:
1) Write On a Daily Basis
We’ve all heard this lesson a thousand times: practice makes perfect. A content writer who spends more than a couple of hours a day writing informative, educational, entertaining materials for different clients with different needs and requests will always respond better to new challenges, unlike novices or other freelancers who only write every once in a while.
2) Be well-organized, do a lot of research and always Google before they tweet.
Extensive research is part of the job and professional content writer always take this important phase very seriously. The worst mistake one could ever make is writing and distributing inaccurate, outdated, ambiguous content. In such cases, readers flag low-quality web material and start looking for trustworthy sources of information, so make sure you count on content writers who check and double-check the information before making it public.
3) Have an amazing, writing style which is audience-friendly and engaging
Your content writers should make the most of their unique set of skills and their inexhaustible talent and creativity to promote your brand, services and products in an engaging manner, while embracing a truly accessible writing style.
4) Be great at social media.
Would you really trust a freelancer who refuses to profit from amazing opportunities available on social media platforms? Would you hire a writer who doesn’t spend at least an hour a day on major social networking sites, like Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and LinkedIn, where all the important elements go viral and all the most relevant trends are anticipated and widely commented? Make sure you hire a social savvy writer.
5) Is proud of their masterpieces, charges the right price
Reputable content writers won’t hesitate to link their most relevant content pieces for you and promote their professional services in an effective manner. Perhaps in the near future business owners will be able to count on different ranking systems allowing them to determine the real value of a particular writer. Until then, Google Authorship will enable you to identify some of the most active, talented freelancers who might have what it takes to complete your writing assignments in a more than satisfactory manner.
Make sure you pay the right price for unique content writer to create your pieces; an insignificant fee could trick you into opting for low-quality writing services – a big mistake which could impact the profitability and popularity of your online business for a long period of time.
Neil Patel, a top Internet marketer, says that you should expect to spend $100-200 per post.
Conclusion
A content writer could be the biggest boon for your business this year and beyond. It’s the era of the Internet; and the Internet thrives on content. Don’t just throw this job on anyone. Make sure your writer meets the criteria above, and you’ll find yourself a good one.
